Marshall mcdonald



(NoiModeL) M. MCDONALD. s FOR SEPARATING GRANULAR MIXTURES.

Patented Jan. 30, 1894.

METHOD OF AND MEAN No. 513,521.

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. UNTTED STATES ATENT QFF E,

MARSHALL MCDONALD, or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR SEPARATING GRANULAR MIXTURES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 513,521, dated January30, 1894.. Application filed July 25, 1892. Renewed June 28, 1893,Serial No. 479,091. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, MARSHALL MCDONALD, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Washington, District of Columbia, have in ventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Means forSeparating GranularMixtures, of which the following is a specification.A

My invention has for its object to separate from a body of pulverizedmaterial, particles for the purpose of grading the particles of saidbody, as in separating mineral substances, as ores, and to this end myinvention consists in carrying a stream of water across the lower porton of the body so as to separate and lift partlcles from the main bodyand discharging the stream with the particles elevated thereby on to thetop of the body, and withdrawing from the space above the top of thebody, the

water with the finer particles or impurities, and certain means forcarrying out these operations as fully set forth hereinafter and asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1. is asectional elevation illustrating an apparatus embodying and carrying outmy lnvention. Fig. 2. is an enlarged sectional detail. A

The body of material to be sorted or divided according to thedifferencesin the weight of the particles thereof is deposited in asuitable chamber, X, contained as shown in Fig. 1. in a casing A, saidmaterial being introduced from a hopper, D, by opening a valve, 5,allowmg the material topass into the casing until it is filled to aboutthe line, a, Fig. 1. The

bottom of the casing, A, is contracted to form.

a comparatively small neck, 4, which extends through the top of ashallow casing, O, and nearly to the bottom of the said casing in suchposition therein as to leave a chamber surrounding the neck, 4, and intothis chamber, nearly in contact with the neck, 4, extends a water inletpipe, 6. From the top of the casing, C, to the upper portion of theeasing, A, extends a pipe, 7, and from the upper end of the casing, A,extends a discharge pipe, 8, having a cock, 9. The water inlet pipe, 6,is also provided with a cook, 10. After the parts are in the positionshown in Fig. 1. of

the drawings and the material to be separated or divided has beenintroduced into the easing, A, filling all the central and lower portionof the same and extending to a certain extent into the casing, 0, wateris introduced so as to fill the casings and the channels, and the cock,9, is opened and the cook, 10, is then opened to an extent sufficient tosecure an injection stream through the pipe, 6, of the desired force andvolume. When the particles to be removed are extremely fine and light,the force and volume of the stream through the injection pipe, 6, areproportionately small, creating thereby a current that passes round theneck, 4, laps over the surface of the material in the casing, O, andpasses upward carrying with it the particles of said material throughthe pipe, 7, and discharges the same into the chamber, X, above the bodyof material and thence out through the pipe, 8, carrying with it thefiner particles while the coarser particles are deposited upon thesurface of the material in the casing, A. The continuance of theseoperations results in a gradual elimination of those fine particleswhich can be carried by the stream of the force secured by the properadjustment of the cook 10, while any coarser particles that may becarried up the pipe, 7, will be deposited in the casing, A, and will notescape through the pipe, 8. There is thus a gradual feeding down of thematerial in the casing, A, and a washing out of the lighter particles,so that after a time every portion of the material that has beendeposited in the casing, A, will be sub j ected to the influence of theWashing current and will have the finer particles separated therefrom.After it is found that no more fine particles pass or discharge with thewater passing from the pipe, 8, the force of the stream injected throughthe pipe, 6, may be increased and the result will be that another gradeof particles is separated from the main body in like manner until nofurther material will pass with the water out of the discharge pipe, 8.The force of the injection stream may be then again increased andanother gradeof particles separated from those that have been depositedin the chamber, X. As the stream passes from the escape pipe, 8, it

' may be received on to a screen of any suitable character of cloth, orfelt, or wool, or fine wire so as to permit the passage of the water,but retain the particles which are afterward dried and then stored forsuch further treatment as may be required.

It will be evident that the casing, A, and casing, O, and thearrangement of the pipes may be varied to a considerable extent withoutinterfering with the operations hereinbefore described.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement ofparts described for carrying out of my improvement in separatingsubstances, I claim as my invention-- 1. The within described method ofgrading the particles of a body of pulverized material, the sameconsisting in passing a stream of water across the lower portion of thesaid body of material and thence upward with a portion of the materialto the top of said body and discharging the water at a 'level above thetop of the said body to carry with the water through the dischargeoutlet the finer particles and deposit the coarser on the top of thebody, substantially as set forth.

2. The within described method of grading or separating the particles ofa body of pulverized material, the same consisting of passing successivestreams of water differing in force and volume across the material atthe lower portion of the body thereof and thence upward and to the topof the said body and withdrawing the water above the said top,substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a casing for containing a body of pulverizedmaterial, a second casing receiving a neck, 4, extending from the first,an injection tube arranged to in ect a stream of water into the secondcasing, a pipe extending from the second casing to the top of the firstcasing, and a discharge pipe extending from the top of the first casingand provided with a cock, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the casing, A, a casing, 0, receiving a neckextending from the casing, A, a pipe extending from the casing, G, tothe top of the casing, A, and a discharge pipe extending from the top ofthe casing A, provided with a cock, and an injection pipe extending intothe casing, C, and provided with a cock, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the casings A, and O, communicating with eachother, a neck, 4, surrounding the point of communication, and aninjection pipe, 6, arranged to throw the injection water toward the saidneck near the top of the casing, C, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of the casing, A, casing,

C, and neck, 4, extending nearly to the bot-

